With a Full Heart

We all have dates that serve as landmarks in our lives. Some of them are, of course, personal, while others are more widely shared, based on events. Those are the moments when someone might ask “Where were you when?” That list includes everything from the Challenger disaster to 9/11 and more, all shared experiences that…

When I think about my mother, and I am thinking about her especially today as it is her birthday, the word that always comes to mind for me is centered. It was not that she didn’t have, or express, a full range of emotions but more that she always radiated a sense of inner peace.…

It is, I suppose, a coping mechanism we all share. We believe that life is stable, we expect that tomorrow will be like today and yesterday, we lull ourselves into that dangerous state of taking things for granted. We all have moments, or periods of time, when we wonder what will happen next, when we…

Let me start out by speaking a truth—I love gifts, I love to buy them and I love to receive them. I select and give presents with sincerity and attention and I open packages with the enthusiasm of an energetic five-year-old. I have the blessing of being married to a man who is not only…

My dad and my brother would each have had a milestone birthday this month. Dad would have had a milestone over 100 and Norm would have hit a milestone right around retirement age. And only I am here to know that. How strange that feels. My dad was 48 when our parents married, 49 when…

There are so many times when anger and fear take the lead in our reaction to things. Both big picture, world events and things much more personal and closer to home, can trigger these emotions. We can find ourselves wishing ill towards others, we can find ourselves holding a hard knot of fury, so intense…

Political views are private matters in my world. Oh, I have my opinions and will express them, but I try, particularly professionally, to keep my views to myself. It’s been difficult to maintain that stance over the course of the last year, and during the last few weeks, but I continue to make the effort.…

Talking with a friend and colleague the other day and it came up that I am in the midst of another level of yoga teacher training, a 300 hour class. I was recounting, or maybe whining, about how much easier it seemed to be to do my 200 hour class. It was early 2021, we…

The truck stopped on the street and the handlers gently let a little pony out of the trailer in back. As the pony stood by obediently, clearly used to the process, the handlers decked it out with a red and gold robe around its neck and a beautiful gold band encircling its head. The center…

I have always known that I cannot be still, that I am always driven to move, to do, to be occupied with something, anything. I learned to cope with these traits a long time ago. I suspect that I was motivated, in all likelihood, by a teacher who dealt with my overly active behaviors by…